Thread: KFI says Fence Bill Passes Senate

Hmmm... The text of the act specifies ranges for the fencing, defined as distance and direction from a given city or town to a terminal location defined by distance and direction relative to another city or town. It would take some time with a map to figure out exactly how much fencing is specified, but the distance in the summary is still given as 700 miles.

I note that the appropriation is not only for double layer fencing, but also for the attendant suveillance equipment associated with it.

I still was not able to confirm the final version of the bill being sent to President Bush, but these above-stated summary was based on features common to the House and Senate versions.

Originally Posted by CrocketsGhost

Originally Posted by DocFarmer

Originally Posted by CrocketsGhost

Originally Posted by DocFarmer

I started to wonder about the cost of that fencing. $1.2 billion for 700 miles of fence? Seemed a bit high to me.

Then, I did a bit of calculating/estimating on my own. My figures were lower than that on a per-mile basis, but then I was doing the estimates based on the WAG principle (wild-a$$ed guess).

I went to a website called http://www.FenceOnline.com, and got an estimate for 528 feet of 12-foot tall, extremely high security fencing. It has razor wire at the top, sub-level support, etc. I used 528 feet (1/10th of a mile) because I didn't want their system to explode on a 6,000 mile estimate.

For the 528 feet, I included 2 end posts and 52 corner posts (where the fence changes direction - I wanted to use those as the supports every 10 feet). I selected the highest security fence they offered.

The price for 528 feet with all the trimmings would be $86,481. This means every mile of single-ply fencing would be $864,810. Double that for the dual-ply fencing (with a 50-foot gap) and you get a price of $1,729,620. The 2,000 miles of southern border would cost $3,459,240,000 and the 4,000 miles of norther border would cost $6,918,480,000. That would put the total price to fence both borders at $10,377,720,000.

Not bad, but I'll bet that with an order that large, you could get a 5% to 10% discount.

Now, how to pay for it? Simple. Let's say there are 12 million illegals in this country right now (I know it's probably more than). That equals $864.81 per person. As each is deported, deduct that amount from the cash account of the country they're from. As well as the price of their plane ticket back home, and the cost of their incarceration while awaiting deportation, and the cost of their deportation hearings.

It was my undestanding that the fence proposed was quite a bit more elaborate. I believe that not only was there double row fencing but also trenching in between. The stated cost works out to what, $32/ft.? I seem to recall that the fencing used elsewhere was not merely heavy mesh with razor wire (which can still be fairly easily breached), but rather solid corrugated metal on at least one layer. If I'm not mistaken, at least part of the fence would also be lighted, requiring wiring and fixtures.

I did a quick search to try to find a description of the authorized fence but couldn't come up with anything. If anyone has actual details, I would be interested in seeing them.

In the mean time, I'm with MW. We begged for this fence and we got it. That's good news, not bad news. Now we just need to keep the pressure on to ensure that the thing gets built and manned as promised and that that other elements of the desired border control plan are acted on along with enforcement and deportation being increased.

I was just calculating the fencing costs. I'm sure there are tons of things I haven't figured into the mix.

Weird thing, though. That 1.2 billion isn't for all 700 miles of the first section. Apparently, from what I've heard, it only covers 300 miles.

Are you sure you aren't confusing that with the earlier appropriations amendment that was voted down?

I guess I need to find the actual legislation and give a once-over.

Maybe I've got them mixed up, but I heard on the news that the 1.2 billion is a "first installment".